


I’ll Build You Back Somehow

by raineraine



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Feelings, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt Tony Stark, I can't stop writing angst, M/M, No Actual Character Death, No Depictions of Physical Harm, Panic Attacks, Parent Steve Rogers, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Probably Complete, Steve Rogers Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Stony - Freeform, Stony Flashfic, Superfamily, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark-centric, What Have I Done, flashfic, mentions of Thanos, mentions of peter parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 13:38:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14874764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raineraine/pseuds/raineraine
Summary: An alternate take on the Infinity War timeline and ending, told in flashfic. Contains spoilers.





	I’ll Build You Back Somehow

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to one of my best friends, who prompted me with “Stony post-Thanos recovery.” 
> 
> Important AU elements to note for this piece:   
> \-- Superfamily. Tony and Steve are Peter’s dads.   
> \-- Tony and Peter were never in space, they were in Wakanda with Steve.   
> \-- Tony and Steve were together prior to Civil War, broke up due to the events of Civil War, and have only spoken to each other about Peter since. 
> 
> Title taken from the song “Build You Back” by Dark Signal.

The last thing Tony remembered, before everything went black, was Steve. Steve. . . reaching for the place Peter had been seconds before, and coming away with nothing but dust. 

 

His ears were ringing, like maybe he’d stood too close to a grenade— except this wasn’t that kind of war. Everything felt too warm, and the air was thick.  _ Peter.  _

 

Someone was crying. 

 

Opening his eyes took more effort than he thought it should have. When everything came into focus, there was only Steve, with tears streaming down his face as he looked down at Tony. 

 

“Where?” Tony croaked, turning his head to cough. “Where is our son, Steve?”

 

Steve’s eyes widened, hands coming to grip either side of Tony’s face. “You’re alive? Jesus, of course you’re alive. You’re talking. Tony, I thought he killed you.”

 

“Steve.” Tony’s chest felt tight, but he tried again. The words came out at barely above a whisper. “Where is our son?”

 

The grip Steve had on Tony’s cheek tightened. “I don’t know,” Steve admitted, tears still pooling in his eyes. “He was there. I… I tried to save him, Tony.”

 

Tony could hear Peter’s words rattling around in his skull.  _ Dad, I don’t feel so good.  _ Could see him stumbling towards Steve, while he laid there on the ground, right where Thanos had left him.  _ I don’t want to go.  _

 

“I could hear him,” Tony sobbed. The ache in his side was back. “All he wanted was you.” 

 

“Tony, stop,” Steve looked pale, even through the dirt and blood that covered his face. “You’re hurt. Don’t cry.” He tugged Tony halfway into his lap, trying to hold him closer. “It’s my fault. I couldn’t save him.” 

 

Struggling in Steve’s grip, Tony shook his head, every sob like Thanos’s knife driving back into him. “I had to lay there,” he gurgled, pressing his face to Steve’s chest. “I couldn’t even tell him it was going to be okay. And it isn’t. Nothing is okay.” 

 

It felt too hard to get in a breath. 

 

“Am I dying?” Tony choked out. 

 

Steve looked down at Tony, alarm evident in his face. “No. No, Tony. I can’t lose you too.”

 

“I c-can’t breathe.” Tony hiccuped, trying to draw in a deep breath. “S-steve I can’t breathe.”

 

Realization dawned on Steve’s face. He craned his neck to speak quietly in Steve’s ear. “Tony. You’re having a panic attack. I need you to count for me, okay?” He was still speaking through his tears. “We’re gonna count to five. Okay?”

 

Gasping for breath, Tony tried to nod. “Five.”

 

“Right,” Steve affirmed, reaching for one of Tony’s hands. “One.”

 

“T-two,” Tony stammered, trying to focus on Steve’s grip. 

 

“Three.”

 

“Four.” This time it came out more like a prayer. 

 

Nodding, Steve squeezed Tony’s fingers. “Five.”

 

Tony’s breathing was coming in hitched gasps, but he no longer felt like he was going to faint. Or die, for that matter. “Where did he go?”

 

“I don’t know.” Steve wasn’t looking at Tony anymore. “Wanda. Bucky. Peter. They were just— gone.”

 

“Now’s probably the wrong time to say this,” Tony started, pushing himself into a sitting position and ignoring the pain that bloomed over his torso. “But for what it’s worth, you never stopped being his Dad.”

 

“While we’re saying things that are neither the time or place,” Steve countered, looking back to Tony’s face earnestly, “I never should have left.”

 

Tony shook his head, blinking away fresh tears, the kind that sprung from old wounds. “I told you to go. I couldn’t see past my own pain. You were right about Bucky.”

 

They sat like that for a while, stewing in each other’s words. 

 

It was Steve who broke the silence. 

 

“I don’t know how, or when, or where… But we’re going to find Peter.” Pulling Tony close, Steve cradled his head and knotted his fingers in Tony’s hair. “Together.”


End file.
